Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

I finally got the video of Beauty and the Beast back! Now I get to show off the mad skills of Sultry Husband. I think he was a rockin’ Gaston!

Of course, M was in the show too, and I may have to upload a portion that she was in, but I would probably have to somehow explain where she was because unless you know where to look (spoon in the middle or whatever) it is easy to miss. Needless to say, I am so proud of the effort and time my two actors put in!

I ran to the dentist that afternoon as you all know, but he was able to take the time and fix the tooth properly so this wouldn’t happen again. It was a bit sore by the evening, but thankfully the full extent of the oral pain held off till the next morning. The dentist had to do some gum surgery on me because the break was so far below the gum line. Basically he burned it away with a scary looking lazer while I sat there telling myself that the smell was just burnt toast or popcorn or something that had nothing to do with my human flesh.

My parents, brother, sister, and nephew all came out for the concert (of course SH and the girls were there too). It was awesome to have such a system of love and support on a difficult night. When they got to my house before the concert, my parents gave me the most beautiful thing in the universe. A glider rocker! I had “asked” for one from the cosmos a while back, but I had no idea that I was getting one. Birthday gift, baby gift, concerto gift, all in one glorious package that I rarely want to drag my sorry bum out of. It is the one place in my house where I can sit and not feel like someone is kicking me in the back. Full support, oh and did I mention that it is a reclining glider rocker? No? Well, now I did. I have dragged the thing all over the house deciding where I want to put it for now. When the baby comes, it will be in my room so I can feed her in the middle of the night. Now though, when all I want to do is sit in that chair, it makes a little more sense to put it in the family room. Except for the fact that I have to shoo my youngest daughter L out of it at least a dozen times a day. “Mommy wants to sit in her chair.” L wants to surf by standing up and making it glide, I am waiting for her to fall and break something.

As for the concert itself. Way too long as always. My director doesn’t seem to know how to keep a concert short and sweet. He packs it way full, which is good I guess, but when your 35 min. solo is at the end of a 2 hour concert, not so much. My partner and I worked hard and it came off beautifully. The audience was a little sparse, but to be fair, there was a Hannah Montana concert in St. George that night and half the town vacated.

It was a very rewarding evening. I felt supported by those I love, I felt the love from the others in the universe (you guys) who could not be there, and I was able to enjoy myself on stage. A glorious evening. Oh, and did I mention that I got a glider rocker?

I wanted to take it a little easy today. It is concert day after all. My family is coming this afternoon (YAY!) and we will be having a wonderful dinner here at my home before the concert. That was how things were supposed to go. Start working on my hair before the family came so I could be a good hostess.

A couple of days ago, I had a tooth break. Totally break in half. This has never happened to me before, I was eating a piece of beef jerky and suddenly I felt something hard crunching along. I ran into the dentist that afternoon, but all they had time to do was patch it back together. They said that if I was careful, it should last, without a problem through the weekend. They had me on the schedule for Tuesday morning for a full crown fix.

Then we are to this morning. Sultry Husband was completely thoughtful and let me sleep in so I would be more rested today. I slept till I woke up on my own (unheard of in this house!) Then headed into the kitchen for some breakfast. I went for my favorite without even thinking about it. Grape nuts mixed with peach flavored yogurt. One bite and I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to be careful. How did I remember? That tale tale crunch of my tooth glue giving way.

The dentist is fitting me in early this afternoon to fix the tooth completely. This is exactly what I wanted to not have happen today. I suppose that people could say “break a tooth” instead of “break a leg” for tonight, then I am doubly insured of a great concerto. Mostly I just hope that my mouth doesn’t throb all through and distract me from what is more important.

For a week now, I have had a desire to write. However, I would get here, turn on my internet then stare at the screen with it’s little blinky icon, then nuthin’. Sultry Husband calls it bloggers block. I say that I have just been in a slump. So, here I am writing just for the sake of writing.

Part of the problem admittedly is the fact that I am so worn out these days. As most of you know, the third trimester brings lack of sleep for most of us. I swear I am in the bathroom no less than 3 to 5 times a night. I find it hard to complain though, I am after all pregnant! And I am so very thankful for this pregnancy that all of the aches and pains that I go through seem minimal.

So, for those of you who actually want to hear about it, here is my pregnancy update. I swore that I wouldn’t let the baby take over the blog because many of you might become bored with that, but it has been long enough that an update is in order. A few months ago, I was told that I was not gaining enough weight. In fact, I had lost 26 pounds, and they were starting to worry about the baby getting enough calories or whatever. They did an ultrasound and said that she was doing fine, looking like she should and all that. But an order for a super high calorie diet was given. I happily started to add cheese to everything in sight. A month later, I went back to my doctor expecting to have gained 10 pounds or more. Instead they told me to go home, eat more cheese and add at least 4 glasses of milk. I had only gained 2 pounds. Never in my life have I ever eaten like this (6 to 8 small meals a day), and under normal circumstances I would be blowing up like a balloon. Instead I am finally starting to look pregnant. At 27 weeks, I am just now starting to poke out. How sick is that?!

I don’t know if I even mentioned here that my specialist put me on a drug called Heparin because of my past birth history. They want to prevent all clotting and thus, SH has been giving me two shots daily in my belly. They haven’t been too bad up till now, I just stare at the celling and search for my happy place as he jams the needle in. Now though, my stomach is starting to stretch and the skin is getting tighter there. The shots hurt! About 8 seconds of pure torture twice a day. Man is this kid gonna’ owe me big! (kidding of course, but sometimes it would be nice to keep a tab!) I know, I know all I do is “whine like a mule”.

In other news, did I tell you guys that I am doing another concerto this year? Well, it is a double concerto (basically I am one of two soloists instead of by myself. It can be much more complicated and thus more difficult for the soloists who then have to know not only their entrances but that of their partner as well). Anyway, I committed to this last September. BEFORE I became pregnant and extremely sick. So, what does that mean for me now? It means that I have struggled more with this concerto that should have been easier for me than last year. Finding the time and energy required has been a chore. But, we are only one week away from performance night and I am totally excited. We are doing Mozart’s Symphonie Concertante for any of you who would wish to look it up.

There you have it, I am very busy right now. Tired, well exhausted really, but excited too. Many things are changing in my life and I feel ready and excited for all of them. Especially this little girl that is coming soon.

What makes kids like you? When I say kids, I mean the middle school to high school age kids. Do you have to bribe them? Or perhaps try so hard to be cool that you come of looking like an older person who is just trying to hard…

I remember my high school music teacher. We loved him, not because he was cool-really he was the farthest from cool that you could get- we loved him because he loved us. Seriously. He was the most caring man in the world, if I got a terrible score at a performance, he would be right there offering comfort.

When my Grandfather died, I was in college. SH and I were dating, so he was with me when I got the phone call. After I cried on his shoulder, I had to go get excused from some rehearsals in order to go home for the funeral. I no sooner knocked on my professor’s door than he ushered me into his office, sat me in his big comfortable chair, and proceeded to ask me all about my Grandpa. Man did I do a lot of slobbering in that office.

I have tried to be like them. When I teach private lessons, or even in the little elementary school orchestra I handle, I think about that man and any other teachers that ever influenced my life- then I try to teach the kids in the same way, showing that same amount of compassion, love, and plain interest in the lives of each student.

My students seem to enjoy the time they spend with me. One student in particular has really latched on, seeking my approval all the time, but my thoughts really turn to another teacher in town. You see, she is moving away. She decided that she has had enough, and wants to leave. From my students, I hear nothing but negative feelings about her. While I don’t agree with everything she says to them in class, I know that I was not there. I could not possibly hope to know the context of the feelings. I do know that many of her students have quit because of her personality.

I have to wonder. Do they really like me? Those minds that I am trying to teach. Those very students that brighten my day, do they go home and tell their parents how horrible I am? Does this other teacher have any idea what is being said about her behind closed doors? Should I even care? Questions bouncing around in my head this evening, hopefully making some sort of sense.

They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not… They like me… They like me not…

In the Symphony of the Canyons, we are putting together a Halloween Concert. I am totally excited for this one, probably just because the music is really fun. We are doing Pirates of the Caribbean again (we did it just last summer but it fit our theme, so we are playing it again). There is this one part about 3/4 of the way through that I struggled with all last summer. I don’t think that I ever played it perfectly. Not once.

This time I decided that it would be different. I actually practiced the part at home (shh don’t tell!), and tonight, well, I rocked it! The adrenaline was pumping through me at such a fast rate, my heart was pumping. I was on such a music high afterwards! The concert master (first chair violin), looked over at me and said “Wow, April in all my years of playing this piece, here and in other symphonies, I have never heard that part played. Everyone skips it.” At which point, the entire orchestra started clapping for me. I was embarrassed, so I raised my arms and said “It’s because I rock!” which got everyone laughing. Man that felt good!

A wonderful lady I know through the symphony suffered a stroke this summer. I teach her daughter the violin and I have great respect for her. We have all been praying for her recovery for the past month or so.

Anyway, I got a call a few days ago from the Principal of Kanab Elementary School. She wants me to take over the strings program. Wow. The principal said that my name was suggested by several different sources. I will be teaching grades 4-6 how to play a string instrument every single morning. I did make it clear to the school though that I am not taking over the program, I am just filling in for my friend. They were fine with that.

The school also wanted me to take over the afternoon general music classes. Um, ya that won’t happen. I could teach it just fine, but what would I do with L? My beautiful four year old daughter, remember her? I don’t want to pay a babysitter just so I can go off and teach other people’s kids. I think they got the middle school music teacher to take those classes instead of me. I am perfectly happy being home with my girl. This is the last year that we will be home alone together after all. Well, as alone as you can be with Daddy working right down the hall in the office anyway 😉

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